Bullet Journal – Page 2 – The HeartWord Way

Hello, everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your summer so far!

As you can probably tell from the title, today I will be showing you my new bullet journal!

My Opening Pages

Below is my title page. At first, I thought I would leave this page blank. But then I decided that my journal needed a title page.

Next is my key/reference page. This key is different than all of the keys I have done before, and I think it will really help me out! I’ve drawn out lines that correspond to 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2 marks on the page. I also counted out all of the dots both vertically and horizontally.

Here is my future log. Here I will write down future holidays/dates that I need to be aware of. When I start a new month in my bullet journal, I look ahead using the future log so I know what’s coming up. I decided to use a rainbow theme for this month since I haven’t used that in a while.

Here on page four, I have my books-to-be-read page. I didn’t really use this page a lot in my previous bullet journal, but I’m hoping to use it more this time. I also changed it up a bit from my last page. I did the shelves differently (definitely more interesting this way, I think) and also added some decorations to the shelves (using stickers). When I think of a book I want to read in the future, I’ll draw a book on one of the shelves and label it. Once I’ve read it, I’ll color it in with a colored pencil.

Page five is my summer goals, which you can check out in more detail in this post.

On these two pages, I am giving an inventory of my washi tape collection. I’ve seen other bullet journalists do this, and I really enjoyed organizing all of my tape into little collections (I just love organizing things!). Also, at the bottom right corner, you probably see a cat. I gave this cat some clothes and also stuck some washing tape on the clothes to make it look like he is wearing the washi tape (because the washi tape is on hangers, like clothes normally are). Maybe it was a bit much, but I think it’s cute.

Page eight consists of a page where I will write down all of my favorite books, movies, songs, hobbies, and foods.

This was a page I designed to help me spend more time doing art. It might be kinda hard to read the banner, but it says, “Art Projects.” The categories are the name of the project, start date, end date, and the “Fun Scale.” The fun scale is basically my rating of how much I enjoyed it. The banner was a lot of work, because I had to use a ruler and measure out every single flag, but I think it looks neat (I am too much of a perfectionist).

And as a finale for my opening pages, I dedicated two pages to “Bullet Journal Extra Ideas.” These pages just have a bunch of borders, titles, page corners, boxes, and banners for me to look back at to use in this journal.

June Monthly Pages

To start off the month of June, I have my usual monthly overview. On the left, beneath the title, I have spaces for my goals, memories, books I read during June, and a place to record the time I spend writing. On the right page, I have my calendar, a cat sunbathing, and spaces for events and notes. Beneath notes, I have a quote: “Girls just wanna have sun.”

Next I have my June money plan. This is where I record how many shifts I work, all of my checks, and the total amount I earned. To the right of all of that, I have a space to record how much I want to spend, save, tithe, and also how much money is leftover from my spending amount. At the very bottom, I have a place to write out spending ideas.

This is my highlights page (I just realized I spelled it wrong on my picture). I’ve never done one of these pages before, so I thought it was time to try one out. Basically at the end of the day, I’ll write in the designated box what the highlight of my day was. At the bottom, I doodled a cat stretching after getting out of bed. This is my favorite cat doodle I did!

Next, I have my mood tracker. I saw the design on Pinterest and absolutely LOVED IT! On each day, I’ll color a heart according to the main mood I felt that day. I did have a mood tracker for all of 2020 in my past journal, but as I finish each month, I’ll go back to my old journal and fill it in.

Next, I have my usual habit tracker with my habits going down the page and dates going across.

Whew, onto the last one. This is my first weekly page. This is the first time I’ve used circles as the daily sections, so I think it should be interesting. I also have spaces for my to-do list, goals, and notes. I labeled this “Week 1” because this is my first week in this journal.

My Bullet Journaling Experience

I have been bullet journaling for about a year and a half now, and I’ve gone through two journals.

I’d say I’m pretty experienced and knowledgeable in the bullet journaling method. I’ve tried all sorts of different spreads, and I know which ones will and will not work for me. I have had a few bumps along the way (failed spreads, unfinished pages, periods where I haven’t had time to journal, etc.), but I’ve always worked them out.

I’m going to try to be more creative in this journal than I have in past journals. I’m going to let my creative side thrive! I’ll do this by using more types of titles, borders, designs, etc., and also doing more doodles on each page.

If you have any questions, I’d love to answer them as best as I can! Let me know in the comments!

And here is a review page I did in the back of my last journal:

*Note: The pages that have a red X beside them were failed pages.

Until Next Week…

That’s it for this post! I hope you enjoyed all of my pictures and all my doodled cats! Next week… Well, I’m actually not sure what next week’s post will be yet.

Thanks for reading! Happy writing!

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9 NLT)

Hello, everyone! How’s it going? Today I’m going to talk about how to start a bullet journal- complete with pictures from my own new bullet journal!

What is a Bullet Journal?

What is a bullet journal? A bullet journal is a daily planner that you create and use to plan and track your life. So, what’s so great about it? The fact that it’s created by you for you. This means you can use it however you want. Need a diary? That can be your bullet journal! Need a sketchbook? That can be your bullet journal! Need a place to track your vitamins? That can be your bullet journal! A bullet journal is so many things. Here are a few ideas:

a place to make sketches
a place to write down appointments
a place to write out what happened today
a place to track your habits, feelings, and even sleep hours
a place to let your creative side flow!

That’s another thing about bullet journals. If you are creative, then this is definitely for you! You have plenty of space to be creative and fancy in here. But don’t get me wrong! Even if you feel like you’re not creative, you can still bullet journal!

The Bullet Journal System

The bullet journal system is pretty easy to follow, but if you’re new to bullet journaling it might seem a little bit confusing at first. I’m going to use this post to show you my system of bullet journaling so you can get a general idea. Of course, it’s your journal so you can use it however you want.

The first page in your bullet journal should be your title page. You can see mine below; it says “Lil’ Flora’s Bullet Journal”. My great grandmother’s nickname for me was Lil’ Flora, so I thought it would be neat to incorporate it into my bullet journal.

The next pages you will want to dedicate to your Index. This is where you will write down where everything is. That way, if you need to go back to reference something, you can just look it up in your Index.

The next page should be your key. The bullet journal system uses a specific key created by Ryder Carroll.

a dot signifies a task
a small circle signifies an event or appointment
a dash signifies a note
a right arrow signifies a migration
a star signifies importance
an X signifies when a task is completed

But, as you can see in the picture below, I have created my own key. It is as follows:

a small circle for an event
an arrow inside the circle for a migrated event
an X inside the circle for a canceled event
an ! beside the circle for an important event
a small square for a task
a small dot inside the square for a started task
an X inside the square for a completed task
an arrow inside the square for a migrated task
a filled in square for a canceled task
an ! beside the square for an important task
a small red balloon for birthdays and anniversaries
a blue star for holidays
a blue triangle for things pertaining to school
a pink dot for special dates
a dot for notes

The key is to reference if you forget what a certain symbol means. It may take a while to get used to using this system, but you will get it eventually.

The next spread you want to do is your Future Log. Your Future Log is where you put down birthdays and appointments for the upcoming months. I didn’t have room to do the next twelve months, so I just did the next six months. When those six months are over, I’ll just do the next six.

Now, we have done the Future Log, but it’s time to get more specific. You’ll want to start each month with a cover page. This month’s theme was Harry Potter, since it is the month of Halloween.

Next, you have your Monthly Log. Here you make a calendar and have a list of the events happening during the month. You can also add extra things like memories and books you read. Down the left side, I have a place for writing the positive and negative things that happened this month and books that I read. At the top in the middle, I have lists of the traits of the four Hogwarts houses as added decor. Underneath my calendar, I have a place for events and notes. Down the right side, I have a place for goals, a special tracker, and a place to record memories. My monthly layout has changed because my new journal is smaller than my old one.

Next I have my Mood and Step Log. The trackers I usually include after my Monthly Log are my mood tracker, step tracker, sleep tracker, dream tracker, and gratitude log. I don’t do all of those, I usually choose a couple to do. This month I did a Mood and Step Log combined as one tracker. Since the theme is Harry Potter, there are shelves, and during the month I will draw potions on them. The shape of the bottle depends on how many steps I took that day, and the color of the potion depends on my moods.

A tracker I always include during any month is my Habit Tracker. This is where you keep track of all of your habits. My Habit Tracker this month is quidditch-themed, as you can see with the quidditch hoops, broomstick, and snitch. Down the left side I have my habits listed and across the top I have numbers one through thirty-one listed. In the bottom right corner, I have a place to fill out my best and worst days and my best and worst habits.

Next is my Gratitude Log. This page is based on the Marauder’s Map with all the footprints labeling the days that I write down what I am grateful for.

Next, I dedicated two pages to brain dumps for October and November. A brain dump is a place to just dump. Whenever you think of something and say, “I really need to write that down,” then you can do it here. Grocery lists, books to read, or even happy memories can go here.

And here is my first weekly layout. I have a place for general information just under the week title and a mini-calendar off to the right. Below that are two boxes for a to-do list and notes. On the right page I have two more boxes- one for my exercise plan for the week and my Water Log. Beside those is a doodle of Luna Lovegood and a quote that says, “Being different isn’t a bad thing. It means you’re brave enough to be yourself.” And at the bottom of the two pages are my daily sections. I chose Luna Lovegood and blue and gray colors for these pages because they all have to do with Ravenclaw. Seeing as how Ravenclaw is my Hogwarts house, I thought that would be fitting for the first week. For the rest of the month, I’ll do the same layout but with different Harry Potter characters and the colors of the rest of the Hogwarts houses. I wanted to have them done to show you, but I just didn’t have time.

That is your basic bullet journal. Those are the things you need to start with in a new bullet journal, and I’ll be back soon with other things like trackers and extra pages you can add to your bullet journal to spruce it up a bit.

I hope all you Harry Potter fans enjoyed my bullet journal this month! I thought it fitting since I am currently rereading the series.

One more thing before I leave. Happy late National Writing Day! National Writing Day was on October 20th, and I meant to get a post out but I didn’t have time. I’m sorry I missed it, but I hope you other writers out there took some time to write that day!

Do you bullet journal? Was this post helpful? Do you plan to start a bullet journal? Talk to me in the comments!

Thanks for reading! Happy writing and bullet journaling!

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV

Category: Bullet Journal

Bullet Journal #3!